Parsurameswara Temple (IAST: Paraśurāmeśvara) also spelt Parashurameshvara, located in the East Indian city of Bhubaneswar, the capital of Odisha, India, is considered the best preserved specimen of an early Odia Hindu temple dated to the Shailodbhava period between the 7th and 8th centuries CE.

Parashurameshvara Temple has a vimana, the sanctum, and a bada, the curvilinear spire over its roof, rising to a height of 40.25 ft (12.27 m).

The temple is the first in Bhubaneswar to contain depictions of Saptamatrikas, namely, Chamunda, Varahi, Indrani, Vaishnavi, Kaumari, Shivani and Brahmi.

[6] A mid-7th century date is agreed by most scholars based on style and the presence of the eight planets which appear over the door to the inner sanctum as the later temples portray nine.

[7][8] Being located in the eastern coast, Parashurameshvara, like other Odishan temples, was not much affected by Muslim invasions of the 12–13th centuries.

[9] In modern times, the temple is maintained and administered by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) as a ticketed monument.

The junction of the vimana and the jagmohana is not cleanly built, leading some scholars to postulate that the porch was added at a much later date; however, the primitive connection is attributed to the building technique.

The temple was constructed by burying completed portions in inclined layers of earth up which heavy pieces of stone were dragged.

[15][16][17] The temple contains the earliest representation of a six-armed Mahishamardini (Durga) image, shown inside a gavaksha frame from the chest upward with a headdress, karna kundala (ornament), mala (garland) and kankana (anklet).

[23] Other carvings on the temple depict a variety of fruits, flowers, birds and animals in scenes and parts of designs.

The other notable descriptive representation on the vimana is the hunting scene above the central niche on the south side, where stags are depicted running away from a hunter.

On the outermost frame around the latticed window of the jaganamohana, delightful scenes of monkeys playing all manners of pranks are depicted.

Devadasis were girls dedicated to worship and service of a deity or a temple for the rest of their lives and usually enjoyed a high societal status.